The effectiveness of group-based behavioral activation therapy on adherence to treatment of women with breast cancer

This study’s aim was to determine the effectiveness of group behavioral activation therapy on adherence to treatment of women with breast cancer (WBC).

 This is a randomized clinical trial. All patients with breast cancer were referred to the Iranmehr hospital of Birjand in 2018, selected as sample statistical population. First, a structured interview was conducted in line with the aim of the research, on 60 WBC referring to the hospital by an available sampling method. Then 32 patients with the inclusion criteria were selected and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The data was collected with the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (2008) and demographics questionnaire. The intervention group received treatment program of behavioral activation in 8 sessions of 120 minutes weekly, but the control group was placed on the waiting list. Data were analyzed by SPSS-20 software and variance analysis with repeated measures.

The mean (standard deviation) age of the intervention group was 44.7 (7.7) and the control group was 45 (43.7), which was not statistically different (P=0.05, t=0.05). The results showed that the mean (standard deviation) post-test scores of non-adherence in the intervention group was 2.47 (0.69) significantly lower than the post-test scores of 15.27 (1) in the control group (P<0.004).

Group behavioral activation therapy significantly increases the adherence to treatment of WBC. Therefore, behavioral activation approach can be used as a short-term and cost-effective way to increase adherence to treatment of these patients by creating targeted activities, internal motivation, and self-efficacy in patients.